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East Bengal Club

Indian multi-sports club based in Kolkata

East Bengal Club
Summary

Indian multi-sports club based in Kolkata

FieldValue
clubnameEast Bengal Club
imageOfficial East Bengal FC Logo.svg
upright0.85
fullnameEast Bengal Club
nicknameLal Holud Brigade
Bangal Brigade
Torch Bearers
founded
presidentMurari Lal Lohia
website

the multi-sports club

Bangal Brigade Torch Bearers

East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of the Indian football league system. It is one of the most successful football clubs in the country. The club has other departments for women's football, men's and women's cricket, field hockey, athletics and eSports.

East Bengal was founded on 1 August 1920. It first started with just its men's football department but soon expanded into other sports such as hockey after 1947 and cricket in the 1970s. The women's football team was started in 2001.

East Bengal is one of the most widely supported sports clubs in Asia. The club is mainly supported by the Bangals, i.e., the immigrant population from the eastern region of Bengal, who were forced to leave their homes (modern-day Bangladesh) during the partition of 1947. For those people, East Bengal Club became a source of identity and hope. The huge influx of dispossessed into the state led to a socio-economic crisis. This led to rivalries among the immigrant and native population of West Bengal, popularly named as Bangal (বাঙ্গাল) in every sphere of life, from jobs to schools and even on football, cricket and hockey pitches. As a result, East Bengal has a long-standing rivalry with its cross-town competitors Mohun Bagan, which is mainly supported by the native population, ghotis (ঘটি) and biharis (বিহারী), with whom it competes in the Kolkata derby, Asia's biggest sports rivalry. East Bengal also shares a local rivalry with another Kolkata club, Mohammedan. The club dons the iconic red and golden yellow colours, which give it the nickname of "Red and Gold Brigade" and "Lal Holud" (Bangla: লাল হলুদ). The fans of the club are also collectively called the Torchbearers

History

Crest, colours and kits

Crest

In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha swept over India and affected football. Indian clubs boycotted the ongoing Calcutta Football League midway through the season. Amidst much confusion, Royal Regiment was declared the winner in the first division. However, East Bengal was not allowed to be promoted to the First Division. Thousands of East Bengal fans and officials decided to hold a protest march at the East Bengal Ground. It was at this march that flaming torches were carried by the protesters. And the hand holding flame torch (known as 'Mawshal' or 'মশাল' in Bangla) became the club emblem, which has remained to this day. In the year 2020 East Bengal released a special Centenary Crest to celebrate 100 years of its existence. |File:East Bengal first logo.png|First logo

Colours

Black and white photograph of facade of Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co. department store
url-status=live}}</ref> These colours permanently integrated with the club.<ref name=&quot;RiseofEastBengal&quot; />
{{Football kit boxpattern_b = _EastBengal_Home_Tradpattern_so = _goldtopleftarm = ED1C24body = FFDF00rightarm = FFC90Eshorts = 000000socks = FF0000title = Traditional kit{{Football kit boxpattern_b = _EastBengal_19_20pattern_la = _EastBengal_19_20pattern_ra = _EastBengal_19_20leftarm = ff0000rightarm = ffff00shorts = 000000socks = FF0000title = Centenary year kit

Departments

Men's football

Main article: East Bengal FC

The men's football team is the most distinguished and revered department of East Bengal Club. It was the original department with which the club was founded in 1920. East Bengal FC is one of the most successful football clubs in the country having won 39 state leagues (effectively top-tier before the foundation of NFL) and 3 national titles amongst numerous Durand Cups, Federation Cups and other premier Cup competitions. East Bengal is also the only Indian club to have ever won a FIFA recognized international tournament in 2003 which was the ASEAN Club Championship. East Bengal is the joint most successful team in that competition.

Women's football

Main article: East Bengal FC (women)

The women's football team was formed in 2001. It won the Calcutta Women's Football League title in its inaugural season and was runners-up in 2002. In the centenary year, the women's team was relaunched. In the first year of relaunch, the East Bengal women's team became runner's up of the 2020 Kanyashree Cup.

Reserves team and Academy

Main article: East Bengal FC Reserves and Academy{{!}}East Bengal Club Reserves and Academy

East Bengal Club Reserves is the reserve team of East Bengal Club. It is the most senior level beneath the first team. The team generally consists of younger players but at times senior players also play. Reserve side currently plays in the Calcutta Football League.

East Bengal Academy are the club's under-21, under-18, under-15 and under-13 sections. The under-21 team is the last stage for promotion of youth players into the first team. The youth teams participate in the Reliance Foundation Development League and the Youth League of various age groups.

Cricket

Main article: East Bengal cricket team

The East Bengal Club Cricket team participates in various tournaments for varying age groups conducted by the Cricket Association of Bengal. Currently, it participates in the CAB First Division League, CAB Senior Knockout, CAB Super League, and JC Mukherjee Trophy. The team plays its home matches mostly at the Eden Gardens and Jadavpur University Campus Ground. They have won around 60 major state-level trophies so far. Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Jadeja, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sourav Ganguly have played on the team.

Hockey

Main article: East Bengal field hockey team

This department started after the Independence of India. The club is affiliated with the Bengal Hockey Association and participated in the BHA First Division hockey league and the Beighton Cup. They won 13 trophies. The team was disbanded in 2000. The hockey department was restarted in 2021 with Calcutta Hockey League.

Athletics

East Bengal has an athletics team, which is affiliated with the West Bengal Athletic Association, and participates in various tournaments of West Bengal. The club also organizes Annual Athletic meets at the club ground.

E-Sports

East Bengal also took part in the inaugural season of e-ISL where the ISL teams competed to play the video game FIFA 22. The club was represented by 2 youngsters, Ankit Gupta and Shayantan Mondal.

Ownership

East Bengal is mainly organized as a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, which means one can avail of membership in the club. There are around 12,000 members. Although, a limited company, named East Bengal Club Pvt. Ltd., was later formed, and both are governed by the club parallelly. Sponsorships and investments happen via this corporate company. The club is governed by its own set of rules and regulations. Amendments and resolutions are passed via extraordinary or annual general meeting.

Currently the football rights are with a new merged entity, Emami East Bengal FC Pvt. Ltd. jointly owned by East Bengal and Emami Group who owns 77% stake of the whole club.

Stadiums

The club has used several stadiums at Kolkata, Howrah and Barasat, including the Eden Gardens, which has been reserved for cricket since Salt Lake Stadium opened in 1984. The first ground used by the club was Kumartuli Park in north Kolkata.

Salt Lake Stadium

Main article: Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan

Salt Lake Stadium

The Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), is a multi-purpose stadium in Kolkata, built in 1984. The stadium is the largest non-auto racing in India. It is currently used mainly for football matches. The stadium includes a unique running track, long jump track, electronic scoreboard, natural turf, floodlighting arrangement, conference hall, medical room, and a doping control Room. The Salt Lake Stadium hosts the home games of East Bengal in the Indian Super League and AFC competitions. The total capacity of the stadium was 85,000, before it was changed to 68,000.

East Bengal Ground

East Bengal Ground

Main article: East Bengal Ground

The East Bengal Ground is located in Kolkata and is the club's historical home ground. The stadium lies in the Maidan (Kolkata) area on the northern side of Fort William and near the Eden Gardens. This stadium is used mostly for Calcutta Football League matches and by the academy, women's, and hockey teams. The total capacity of the stadium is 23,500.

Eden Gardens

Main article: Eden Gardens

The Eden Gardens is the second largest cricket stadium in India. The stadium currently has a capacity of 68,000 and formerly had a capacity of around 100,000. East Bengal has used this stadium on several occasions. For many games and seasons Eden Gardens served as the Home ground of the men's football team before the construction of Salt Lake Stadium. After its construction the club continued to use the stadium for its cricket teams.

Other grounds

Barasat Stadium is also used by the club for some regional matches, especially in cases where the Salt Lake Stadium or East Bengal Ground cannot be used. Kanchenjunga Stadium, a multipurpose stadium based in Siliguri, has also been used several times to host club football matches. It also hosted the 2012 Federation Cup. Kalyani Stadium, situated on the outskirts of Kolkata at Kalyani, was used by East Bengal as their home turf during the 2019–20 I-League.

The team also trains at one of the VYBK practice grounds.

Management

Major trophies of East Bengal FC include the following:

TypeCompetitionTitlesSeasonsASEAN Club ChampionshipNational Football LeagueFederation CupIndian Super CupIFA ShieldDurand CupCalcutta Football LeagueRovers Cup
International12003
Domestic32000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04
81978, 1980, 1985, 1996, 2007, 2009–10, 2010, 2012
31997, 2006, 2011
291943, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1958, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2018
161951, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2002, 2004
411942, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1961, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18,
101949, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1990, 1994
  • Shared record

Cricket

  • CAB First Division League

:: Champions (16): 1974-75, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2016-17

  • CAB Senior Knockout

:: Champions (13): 1975-76, 1977-78, 1979-80, 1982-83, 1985-86, 1987-88, 1997-98, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15

  • J. C. Mukherjee Trophy

:: Champions (12): 1977-78, 1983-84, 1986-87, 1987- 88, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10, 2016-17

  • P. Sen Memorial Invitation Trophy

:: Champions (10): 1976-77, 1978-79, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2016-17

  • A. N. Ghosh Memorial Trophy

:: Champions (8): 1992-93, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16

  • CAB Super League

:: Champions (1): 2016-17

Hockey

  • Calcutta Hockey League

:: Champions (10): 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1989, 2022

  • Beighton Cup

:: Champions (4): 1957, 1962, 1964, 1967 :: Runners-up (3): 1963, 1970, 1987

Awards

  • Banga Bibhushan: 2022

Affiliated clubs

The following club was formerly affiliated with East Bengal:

  • ENG Leicester City (2002–2003) The following club is currently affiliated with East Bengal:
  • BAN Sheikh Russel KC (2022–present)

Notes

References

References

  1. "FOOTBALL IN BENGAL". The [[Indian Football Association]] (West Bengal).
  2. (1 February 2006). "Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation". [[Penguin Books.
  3. Wadwha, Arjun. (19 May 2008). "History of Football in India". TheSportsCampus.
  4. "The Rise of East Bengal Club". East Bengal Football Club.
  5. (2 May 2010). "History of East Bengal".
  6. "Club Day: East Bengal – The History".
  7. Sportstar, Team. (August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline".
  8. Schöggl, Hans. "India - List of Foundation Dates".
  9. "Team Archives of Quess East Bengal FC {{!}} Official Website".
  10. Armband. (9 November 2019). "East Bengal Football Club : History and Emergence".
  11. "1930s: The Dark Decade".
  12. "History".
  13. (22 Dec 2020). "More Than A Club: Stories Behind Our Red-and-Gold Colours and Torch Emblem".
  14. Banerjee, Debanjan. (9 August 2015). "উপচে পড়া গ্যালারি রঙিন করলেন খাবরা". [[Anandabazar Patrika]].
  15. Bhattacharya, Nilesh. (27 July 2019). "East Bengal unveil centenary jersey Football News – Times of India".
  16. "Archive".
  17. "India – List of Women Champions".
  18. (25 October 2019). "East Bengal forms women's team; Mohun Bagan 'not enthusiastic' enough".
  19. BADGEB. (28 December 2019). "Exclusive: East Bengal women's team officially signs!".
  20. "SSB beats SC East Bengal to lift Women's Kanyashree Cup!". Arunfoot.com.
  21. (18 October 2018). "Cricket honours".
  22. (23 August 2017). "Legacy-History".
  23. "Schedule". Hockey Bengal.
  24. (26 March 2022). "Calcutta Hockey League Competition — Fixtures of 1st Division Group B 2022". The Hockey Bengal.
  25. (13 February 2022). "Calcutta Hockey League Competition — Fixtures of 1st Division Group A 2022". The Hockey Bengal.
  26. (18 October 2018). "Hockey".
  27. "১৯ বছর পর হকি টিম তৈরি করল ইস্টবেঙ্গল".
  28. (1 October 2018). "Athletics – Team".
  29. (16 October 2018). "Annual Athletic meet".
  30. Majumdar, Arkamoy Dutta. (9 July 2018). "Kolkata football: East Bengal cedes control in Quess for funds".
  31. (12 Nov 2014). "East Bengal knocks on ED door".
  32. Mukherjee, Soham. (21 Sep 2020). "Transfer of sporting rights to Shree Cement East Bengal Foundation on agenda in EGM".
  33. "Paperwork done between Emami and East Bengal, it's time for football".
  34. Mann, Chris. (24 November 2009). "The 10 largest football stadiums in the world: #2 – Salt Lake Stadium (Kolkata, India)". Sports Lens.
  35. (29 July 2019). "[VIDEO] Bhaichung Bhutia kickstarts East Bengal FC's centenary celebrations with grand torch rally in Kolkata".
  36. Bhattacharya, Nilesh. (29 July 2019). "Sea of red and gold floods Kolkata as East Bengal launch centenary gala".
  37. "East Bengal Ground". eastbengalfootballclub.com.
  38. Roy Chowdhury, Rohan. (27 July 2023). "ইস্টবেঙ্গল আজ নিজেদের মাঠে খেলবে প্রথম ম্যাচ, জয় ফিরতে মরিয়া মশাল ব্রিগেড". News18 Bangla.
  39. Now, Khel. (19 July 2018). "East Bengal edge Mohun Bagan to IFA Sheild title after thrilling penalty shootout".
  40. (April 2016). "I-League: Mohun Bagan gear up to take on arch-rivals East Bengal".
  41. (18 November 2019). "East Bengal Announce Kalyani Stadium as Their Home Venue for I-League 2019–20".
  42. (7 August 2019). "Surface Tension in Kolkata: The Pain of Football in the Rain".
  43. (12 June 2024). "Business leader Lohia becomes East Bengal president, aims to take it among the 'best clubs of Asia'". Deccan Herald.
  44. "Trophy Room".
  45. "East Bengal Club".
  46. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Airlines Gold Cup".
  47. (19 April 2023). "Calcutta Football League: East Bengal kings of Asia's oldest league competition — full winners list". The Olympics Football.
  48. (22 July 2022). "3 iconic city football clubs to receive Banga Bibhushan". Millennium Post.
  49. Mukherjee, Sayan. (25 July 2022). "'Not clubs but institutions': Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Mohammedan receive Banga Bibhushan award". News Nine.
  50. (14 January 2021). "Indian Football: ISL and I-League clubs and their tie-ups with foreign clubs". [[Goal (website).
  51. Pandab, Manas Ranjan. (3 February 2021). "FEATUREDISL and I-League Clubs, Their Tie-ups With Foreign Sides". Football Express.
  52. (16 March 2022). "East Bengal: ফুটবলের উন্নয়নে শেখ রাসেল ক্রীড়াচক্রের সঙ্গে কাজ করবে ইস্টবেঙ্গল". [[Anandabazar Patrika]].
  53. Chakraborty, Swapnomoy. (16 March 2022). "East Bengal sign strategic partnership with Bangladesh side Sheikh Russel".
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